Monday, November 29, 2010

Get a conscious...

When we hear about marketing, we tend to think of traditional ads, such as a billboard boasting the newest Nike shoe, or a glossy magazine ad featuring several beautiful models.

I've also noticed recently that when I tell people I'm interested in majoring in marketing, they give me a look of disgust that I believe could only be topped if I casually brought up my interest in joining the Nazi party, or becoming a politician. It's somewhat understandable, especially in today's world, where the consumer must battle through a barrage of ads daily. Marketing is not perceived as a "noble" career. Marketing doesn't save lives. It doesn't work towards ending poverty in Africa.

Or so I thought.

Recently, however, in my quest to discover the socially conscious side of my future career, I stumble upon (read: my uber-good doer friend sent me) a link to a blog about 56 Impressive Ads about Problems in the World. Ranging from hunger to obesity, drugs to anti-violence, these ads really get you thinking. I definitely recommend you check out the full site, but here are a few of my favourites:

Disabilities

Anti-drug

Child soldiers:

Buckle Up

International Aid

Condom-AIDS





Tuesday, November 16, 2010

International ideals

International.

If I could have a word of the month... scratch that, year; "international" would be it.

For some reason, for the past few weeks, the world suddenly became so real for me. I don't know if it came from (re)reading Eat, Pray, Love; deciding where I wanted to study abroad next year; or my friends from the U.S. coming to visit me and exclaiming over how "different" and "Canadian" everything is (side note: there is not really a difference. The U.S. and Canada could be the same country... Luckily for Canada, they're not). But the fact that an entire world exist out there and I haven't even scratched the surface of exploring all of it struck a nerve. I can live (mostly) anywhere in the world (there is, of course, a few countries that wouldn't look kindly on an American crossing their borders). But sitting there, thinking that I have spent 19 years of my life contained in two countries, on one continent, is so depressing. There is an entire world out there, so many experiences to be had, yet many people never leave the safety of their country? I guess you could say I officially have wanderlust.

This, combined with Del's blog about "New Marketing", or how quickly marketers are forced to respond to constantly evolving pop culture, made me think about international marketing, and how difficult it must be for a single company to target consumers in different countries, raised in totally different cultures, with vastly different pop cultures. Is there a Pandora's box of international marketing? A single advertising campaign that transcends borders, surpasses cultural barriers and delivers an identical message to consumers in all corners of the world?

The logical side of me says no. The world is far too different, the people have such vastly different backgrounds, for a campaign like that to ever be successful.

However, the idealist in me looks at the world now compared to 30 years ago. We can communicate with anyone in the world in nanoseconds. Ideas and trends, thanks to blogs and the internet, can start in China and spread to Brazil in moments.

So is culture becoming one? Are the lines between countries and divisions in beliefs slowly corroding away? Along the same lines, shouldn't the barriers in marketing be doing the same? Can't we create a ad that encompasses the beliefs of many different people in many different countries who are connected solely in the fact they are connected?

I believe this is becoming possible. And its up to the next generation of marketers to create it

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

A not so subliminal message

Anna's blog bananas about subliminal advertising got me thinking. After reading Buyology, I haven't been able to look at advertisements the same way. Even the most innocuous flower shop commercial is scrutinized for signs of inappropriate hidden sexual content or a soundtrack recorded to subliminally force you to believe the solution to all your problems is found in a beautiful rose bouquet.

Subliminal advertising scares people. We've grown up being taught to fear sacrificing control of our brains. High school discussions about 1984 basically cemented the fact that mind control is always evil. Thus, when the news about subliminal advertising got out, people treated it like it was the bubonic plague, pushing for laws and regulations prohibiting the use of such methods in advertising.

My question is: Is it really that bad?

If you think about it, everything around us could count as subliminal advertising. That guy smiling at you from across the room? Without saying anything, he is conveying interest. Even if you don't consciously feel yourself relaxing, or notice how he seems more appealing, you find yourself drawn to him more than you were before he smiled. Isn't that exact what the point of subliminal advertising? Convincing you to feel or think something you would've have thought about before seeing the ad? If we keep with the metaphor, traditional advertising is like the guy coming up to you and saying "Hi, I think you seem interesting, and I would like to talk to you". Subliminal advertising, or the smile, gets the point across, but in a way that your conscious mind often has trouble recognizing. In some cases, the smile is even better. The in-your-face approach can often be creepy and a little intimidating. In the same way, the subtle product advertisements seem to be generally much more effective than the infomercials that present you with all the features of the product in a dull, overly glorified manner.

People fear subliminal messages because they're afraid that after watching a particularly powerful piece of propaganda, they will be inspired to go out and attempt to kill the prime minister "for the motherland". Personally, I don't think the human mind works that way. It is receptive to subliminal advertisements to a certain extent. Subliminal messages could make you crave a Coke while watching American Idol, but it will not convince you to go against something completely against your morals. Neither technology nor our understanding of the human mind have reached that level.

At least, not yet.

Friday, November 5, 2010

5 Products Every Student Needs

My previous blog post was meant to serve as an introduction to this, but I went a little overboard. Therefore, without further ado, the 5 best procrastination tools/products every university student needs to get:





1. Zoomquilt: Download this as your screensaver. Now. It is a collaboration done by artists that is
a never ending loop of the trippiest images you can image. Turn this baby on, and guaranteed no work will be completed in the next hour.




2. Webroot's Social Media Sobriety Test: Prevent drunk posts that you don't want your grandma to see. Need I say more? http://www.socialmediasobrietytest.com/

3. Damn it, my mom's on Facebook: Not a real product, but needs to exist.

4. Electrolux Vac from the Sea: For those time where you've already exhausted all other procrastination resources and must resort to cleaning (aka studying from econ), Ads of the World wrote about an awesome vacuum cleaner made from Gulf Coast trash. http://adsoftheworld.com/media/ambient/electrolux_vac_from_the_sea



5. A bed: Simple, yet so powerful. Nothing aids procrastination more than a huge, comfy bed calling out your name for just one more nap.






Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Procrastination

College is that magical time in your life when you get to attend less class than you ever have before in your life, spend more time researching randoms on Facebook than you do on your research paper, and live for four (or more) years in an unsupervised environment with 30,000 other kids your age funded by your parents.

And they say heaven doesn't exist.

But really, I would say the number one thing I've learned to do in college is procrastinate. Everyone knows the scenario:

3 Weeks before due date: Teacher hands out assignment. You shove it in your backpack and promptly forget it exists because you have "forever" to finish it.

2 weeks before due date: You find above assignment when conducting an impromptu cleaning of your backpack at 1 a.m. due to reaching your time limit on Megavideo. After identifying the meaning on the pile of papers, you throw it on your desk where you'll maybe see it tomorrow, but don't worry about it because there is "so much time" before it is due.

1 week before due date: While frantically studying for a midterm that starts in 2 hours, you find assignment. Disregard it because you have 3 midterms to study for between now and then.

1 day before due date: While talking to your friend in class, he questions about your progress on the assignment. You remember it exists and immediately enter "oh, s***" mode".

12 hours before due date: You ditch the rest of your classes for the day and head home, leaving yourself plenty of time to complete assignment. Spend the next 6 hours catching up on all the shows you meant to but never have time for.

6 hours before due date: Finally manage to close computer and start assignment. Realize you know absolutely nothing on the assignment, so decide to take brief power nap to rejuvenate.

3 hours before due date: Hm, power nap lasted longer than expected. Stare at assignment again. Nap did nothing to improve your knowledge of the assignment. Open laptop to look up how to do first question. But first, quickly check your Facebook.

2 hours before due date: Get off Facebook. You're hungry, so you decide to try out this new cheesecake recipe you've been meaning to make.

30 minutes before due date: Sit down and start assignment. Your stress is leveling out at approximately cruising altitude, so you start filling in random numbers with large graphs.

15 minutes before due date: You may be hallucinating. Graphs starting to make pretty shapes that look like laughing faces. You press on.

1 minute before due date: Log into Vista. "Error: Session Already Running". Try not to murder your computer. Refresh screen 15 times before Vista realizes that there is actually NO other screen open.

3 seconds before due date: Submit homework.





Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Don't insult the moon

I'm one of those people who loves print advertising. Like the kind of love where I'll buy magazines, look at the ads, and skip over the articles. As weird as that is, there's something fascinating about how a single page, consisting of a picture and words, can influence your purchasing behavior so much. In my opinion, the ads featuring the gorgeous models draping themselves over the surly but equally gorgeous men aren't the most effective form of advertising. Sure, they portray this enviable lifestyle of lust and longing (available to you to for the scant price of a $3000 handbag!), but advertisements that are more unique are much more effective at selling their desired product. If someone showed you a picture of a woman staring into the camera, you wouldn't be able to tell what makeup she is selling. However, if someone showed you the technicolor Ray-Ban "never hide" advertisements, the Ray-Ban product would instantly jump to your mind.

The Ray-Ban ads used to be my favorite print ads.
However, I recently discovered INQ's (who are, to the best of my knowledge, a European cell phone company) new advertisements, and they're giving Ray-Ban a run for their money. Check out my favorites:


Wednesday, October 13, 2010

A Typical Day At Wexley School For Girls


Ad agencies are, for most marketing students, this mysterious and powerful force, a workhouse full of eclectic creative geniuses who plot the next best way to draw in your attention, to manipulate you into buying something you previously never knew existed. Its a world popularized-and glamorized-by the award-winning TV show Mad Men. Of course, this situation seems to present a far from accurate view of the real world of ad agencies. So I set off on a brief mission to figure out what ad agencies today truly are.

My personal favorite?

Wexley School for Girls

"WTF" was basically my first thought in (trying) to nav
igate my way around their website. As words cannot pro
perly describe what I saw, check it out here. The few pictures I managed to find online... they seem to be fairly private about their actual office space



The handicapped parking spots in front of the building

The entrance to the building, designed to look like a Greek restaurant (the lobby has tables and booths)

Reception desk


Side view of the building

This is the only video I found that gives you a brief glimpse into the crazy minds behind Wexley School for girls... true randomness at its finest

Wexley School for Girls appears to be a straight up "screw you" to the posh ad world conveyed by Mad Men. And, to be honest, I would do ridiculous things to work there, even for a month.